Fire-escape.



H. w. FELT.

FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED MAILZI. 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'.

Patented May 23, 1916. I

attain,

' H. w. FELT.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27 1915.

Patented May 23, 191

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' amoemtoz Cl towing a THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH CU. WASHINGTON. D. C.

uinrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE HENRY WARREN FELT, OF. WAY SIDE, OKLAHOMA.

- FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

. Application filed March 27,1915. Serial No. 17,464.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be itknown that I, HENRY WARREN FELTQ a citizen of the United States, residing at Wayside, in the county of Washington and.

State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved fire own weight and thus not interfere with the I nected with a building.

movement of the carriage up the ropes with which it is slidably connected.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the carriage that it will be strong and durable and thus do away with danger of it breaking and permitting a person to fall to the ground.

Another objectof the invention is to so construct the fire escape that it will be very simple and thus have few parts to get out.

of order or need repair.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a view showing the improved fire escape in front elevation and shown con- Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through one of 1 the cylinders forming part of the fire escape. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the cylinder taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the platform forming part of the carriage. Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of one of the brackets carried by the platform or seat forming part of the carriage.

The carrying ropes 10 are connected at their upper ends with the supporting bar 11 which is connected with the window sill by means of the suspending hooks 12. These ropes or cables 10 extend from the window sill to the ground and pass through the cylinders 13 and eyes 14 of the brackets 15 which form part of the. car or carriage of the fire, escape. It will therefore be seen that the car or carriage is slidably mounted upon the cables so that it may travel back and forth from thewindow to the ground in order to permit people to descend from the upper floors of an apartment house or other building to the ground. It is obvious that the hooks could be connected with the roof of the building as well as with awindow sill according to the desires of the person putting thefire escape in place.

The platformor seat 16 of the carriage carries the brackets 15 and also carries the suspending brackets 17 which are provided with openings 17 through which therings 19 pass so that these suspending brackets for the platform 16 may be connected with the ropes or cables 18 which cables are connected with the rings or eyes 19 carried by the cross bar 20. A safety strap or belt 21 is mounted upon one of the cables 18 and is provided with a snap-hook 22 hooked into the eye 23 of the secondcable 18 after being T passed around the body of the person occupying the platform to hold the person in place and prevent any danger of the person slipping off of the platform. It will thus be seen that the occupant of the carriage or car will be securely held in place and prevented from accidentally slipping off of the I the hooks 27 are connected when the car is descending will not be'operative when the car is being raised and the upward movement of the car will therefore not be interfered with and the car will be permitted to be rapidly drawn to the upper ends of the cables 10 through the medium of the line or rope 30 passing around the pulley 31 and connected with the ring 32 with which the ropes 28 are connected. Reference will now be had to Fig. 2 and from an inspection of this figure it will be readily seen that when the brake levers 29 are in an operative position the ropes or cables'lO indicated by dotted lines in this figure will'be gripped between the jaws 33 of the brake levers and jaw members 34 formed within the cylinders.

This apparatus can be permanently connected with the building at a suitable place and when a fire occurs the cables 10 will be lowered to the ground and the lines 30 also lowered. This apparatus could also form part of the apparatus of the fire department and connected with the building by the firemen.- After the hooks 27 have been connected with the eyes 35 of the brake levers 29 the carriage will be lowered to a point where a person within a room could seat himself upon the, platform and after the belt 21 has been put in'place the carriage could be lowered to the ground and its descent controlled either by the occupant of the carriage holding onto the rope or line 30 or by some one on the ground. After the carriage has reached the ground the hooks 27 will be transferred to the eyes'26 thus releasing the brake levers 29 and permitting them to swing to an inoperative position and the carriage can then be drawn upwardly through the medium of the line 30 until it has reached the desired height at which a second person can get into the car. This person would then raise one of the brake levers to an operative position and connect the hook with its eye and would then raise the second brake lever and connect its hook with its eye after which he would get into the car and descend to the ground. It will thusbe seen that with this apparatus a person could be: quickly lowered to the ground'without danger. It should be noted that the brake levers are soconstructed that when the hooks 27 are not connected with the same the outer end portions will have sufiicient weight to swing the levers to an inoperative position and thus prevent the levers from interfering with the rapid upward movement of the carriage.

Unit is claimed is 1* 1. A fire escape comprising carrying cables, a carriage slidably mounted upon said cables and including cylinders through which said cables pass, gripping jaws positioned within said cylinders, brake levers carried by said cylinders for engaging said cables to hold the same in engagement with said gripping jaws when in an operative position, actuating means for said levers removably connected with the same, and means carried by said cylinders for engagement by said actuating means when moving said carriage upwardly upon said cables.

2. A fire escape comprising a supporting bar, flexible carrying means carried by said supporting bar, a pulley connected with said supporting bar, a carriage slidably mounted upon said flexible carrying means and including cylinders slidably mounted thereon, brake means carried by said cylinders, a line passing through said pulley, and means for selectively connecting said line with said cylinders and with said brake means.

3. A fire escape including a carriage comprising a platform, a cross bar, cables connected with said cross bar and with said platform, securing means carried by one of said cables and releasably connected with the other of said cables, cylinders connected with said cross bar, and brake means carried by said cylinders.

4. A fire escape comprising carrying means, a carriage 'slidably mounted upon said carrying means, brake means for retarding the passage of said carriage down said carrying means when said brake means is in an operative position, means for drawing said carriage up said carrying means, and means for connecting said drawing means with said brake means whereby said drawing means may constitute actuating means for moving said brake means to an operative: position when said carriage is traveling down said carrying means.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY WARREN FELT. l/Vitnesses:

S. E. BARRETT, ETHEL I. ADAMS.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington. D. 0. 

